Our thinking

Crowning achievement

11 October, 2024

This week The Crown Estate launched its Nature Recovery ambition, aiming to boost biodiversity and support climate adaptation across its substantial land and sea holdings by 2030. This strategy, developed over 12 months with over 40 nature experts, sets out three 2030 goals. First, achieve a “measurable increase in biodiversity”, second, protect and restore freshwater, marine, and coastal systems, and third, reconnect people with nature, enhancing health and well-being through community-led projects.

They’re not starting from scratch either. The Crown Estate has been busy planting trees and hedgerows, creating green corridors in London’s West End, and drafting the first roadmap for scaling up finance flows to projects conserving or restoring the UK’s marine ecosystems.

We commend The Crown Estate for its well thought out, interconnected and joined up approach to tackling nature-related issues. Through partnerships, the Nature Recovery ambition aims to bring nature onto the agenda alongside net zero targets; the development of offshore wind to enable secure and affordable energy; building homes; developing places; supporting food production; and creating economic opportunity.

We think this is a  thoughtful and comprehensive approach but perhaps, if we are to be very picky, what might be lacking is a leading ambition, or focus area that people can get behind. Take Canary Wharf Group, for example, who recently partnered with The Eden Project to create Eden Dock, a vibrant waterfront space featuring floating gardens, art installations, and water activities. It’s a clear and engaging concept that invites people in to interact with nature and feels real and tangible.

Looking ahead, we hope the launch of the Crown Estate’s Nature Recovery ambition inspires other companies to dig deep and develop their own nature strategies. The Crown Estate plans to release updated targets and key performance indicators in 2025, and we’re eager to see how their efforts will bear fruit—and maybe a few more trees along the way!

By Charlotte Pounder